Dylan Cease is trying anything and everything that he can to shake off his early-season blues.
The San Diego Padres ace Cease shocked the baseball world this week by shaving off his trademark beard and mustache. Padres teammate Jackson Merrill posted the stunning photo of a clean-cut Cease to Instagram on Friday.
Take a look below.
Here is a side-by-side of Cease now compared to what he looked like in his photo at media day this year.
The 29-year-old righty Cease debuted with the Chicago White Sox in 2019. He had been sporting a signature mustache for much of his MLB career and then added the full beard after he was traded to the Padres in 2024.
Facial hair had been Cease’s friend for much of his run in the bigs. Known for having some of the best swing-and-miss stuff in baseball, Cease made All-MLB teams in 2022 and 2024 and also threw a no-hitter for the Padres in July of last year.
But this season has been a very different story for Cease. In his first three starts of 2025, Cease has allowed an MLB-high 13 earned runs and thus holds a brutal 7.98 ERA.
Even despite Cease’s struggles though, the rest of the Padres have been picking up the slack, and thus the team is currently leading the loaded NL West division at 10-3. Cease will be hoping to join the party soon too by becoming the latest baseball player to trim off his facial hair to try to turn his luck around.
